Fred Houston was in high school when he saw his first Model T, rusting away on an Oklahoma farm. He went back a few years later and bought it for $25. Fifty years later, hes part of a Tin Lizzie subculture. He has five Model Ts (from racecars to a truck), tours the union in the cars, spends hours in his shop, and checks eBay daily looking for parts. I never grew up--and I dont want to grow up, says Houston, 74. The fun of the car has been in restoring it. I look at it and say, I did this myself. And wonder of wonders, it runs!

The Model T Ford, built from 1908 to 1927, was meant to be a bare-bones alternative to luxury cars for the rich. Getting in and out of some models is a test of flexibility. But the experience is oddly appealing and even addictive, which explains why the Model T has fans all over the world. People gave it affectionate nicknames, including Tin Lizzie, flivver and jitney bus. The car became immortalized in song and film.

When Henry Ford built the Model T, few roads were paved, so the cars had to be tough. They were cheap, too, eventually selling for as little as $260 each. Ts proved so popular, Ford had to ante up $5 a day (a revolutionarily high wage in 1914) to hire enough workers to keep up with demand. Eventually more than half the cars in the world were Model Ts. Later they fell out of favor, in large part because Ford refused to make them more stylish or to add amenities.

During the Great Depression and afterwards, thousands of Model Ts were discarded as junk, either to rust away or to be cannibalized for parts for wagons and farm equipment. Surviving cars later were discovered by collectors--a diverse group. Todays Model T owners speak often about Henry and what Henry did, being, in their minds, on a first-name basis with Henry Ford. At least one has a dog named Henry Ford, and several have dogs named Lizzie. Some drivers wear t-shirts with bad puns like  T shirt. Their email addresses often refer to their cars. Some have Model T likenesses on their belt buckles. Older owners see themselves as caretakers of cars that probably will outlive them.

Thousands still take their Ts for spins. In June, 60 drivers took theirs through the Rocky Mountains, where they climbed and descended steep passes, suffering setbacks no more serious than the occasional overheated radiator. Some drivers even diverted from the carefully planned route to take gravel roads and a barely-cut road still under construction. One participant blogged the trip, with pictures. [http://www.texastparts.com/2007ColoTour/TourCalendar/Calendar.htm]

The Rocky Mountain trip was co-organized by local chapters out of Colorado and Oklahoma of the Model T Ford Club of America. Nine thousand like-minded Lizzie drivers have gathered there, many also belonging to the older Model T Ford Club International, founded in 1952. These organizations each put out a magazine on alternate months, guaranteeing members of both clubs a steady stream of Model T-related reading material.

Bruce McCalleys Model T Ford: The Car that Changed the World fills 600 pages with pictures and text. Trent Boggess, an expert on the Ford Motor Companys early years who chairs the business department at Plymouth State University, also recommends Tin Lizzie, the story of the fabulous Model T by Philip Van Doren Stern, Ford: The Times, the Man, the Company by Allan Nevins and Ford: Expansion and Challenge 1915-1933, also by Nevins and Frank Ernest Hill. Websites, including the MTFCAs Tulsa chapters homepage, are full of tips, such as Houstons 12 steps to follow to get a car to run well without the owners having to resort to using modern parts.

The History Channel filmed a documentary on the car titled simply, Automobiles: Model T.

Want to see clips of a T driving through a stream and balancing atop a giant pipe? Type Model T into Youtube.

There are several ways you can get involved with Ts yourself: Start meeting fellow T fanatics by calling a local club or booking a trip next summer to Richmond, Indiana, where the Model T Ford Club of America is planning a party to celebrate the cars centennial. On July 21-26, visitors will be treated to T displays and competitions, a fashion show from the era, plus an air show of vintage planes. Organizers hope to have at least one Ford Trimotor aircraft.

You can visit Yosemite National Park, where an operator rents Model Ts from June through October. A one-day rental is $400 for a roadster, $450 for a touring car. Three-day tours start at $2,500 for two adults and include overnight stays at the Tin Lizzie Inn, massages to recover from the road, and an instructional video and driving lesson so you learn to work the three pedals.

For not much more, you can buy a car. More than 15 million Model Ts were made, and its estimated that 250,000 may survive. Sellers can be found at swap meets in Chickasha, Oklahoma and Hershey, Pennsylvania, but announcements of cars and parts for sale also are posted regularly on eBay. Recent classifieds posted on the Model T Ford Club of Americas website included a 1926 Model T speedster (asking $4,500) and a 1915 pickup ($5,000).

Owners report that Ts in their garages tend to multiply. Consider yourself warned.